Thank you Livio! This really helps me understand why there are so many
tastes for oolong teas. If I understand correctly, then it is possible to
have a light oxidized oolong (i.e 20%) that is a heavy roast?

I am wondering if the oolong processing in Taiwan is similar to China ? In
my experience, the oolongs from Taiwan such as Tung Ting, Bao Zhong, Gao
Shan all have much more flowery notes than some that I've tried from
mainland China. Is this because they are less roasted? I'm making the
assumption (incorrectly perhaps?) that more flowery means less roasting and
vice versa?

Winston

"Livio Zanini" wrote in message
...
I would like to add only a few remarks on roasting.

I personally do not know which can be considered the differences between
traditional and ancient oolong production methods. What I will try to
describe are the main phases of the process used for yan tea, TGY and
phoenix mountain dancong teas, which I could see in China. The biggest
difference is in the rolling process, but other phases are basically the
same and differ only in their degree and in the way they are performed.

Since my English is terrible and I do not make a consistent use of terms,
I
want first to fix some concepts on these processes.

I will refer to "pan-roasting" (I used the term "pan-firing") in order to
translate the Chinese term "chao". I do not like too much the term
"frying"
since there is no oil used in this process.

With the English term "baking" I will translate the Chinese word "bei" (In
my previous message I used the term "roasting").

Pan-roasting is a process common to all green and oolong teas. It is so
called since it was performed in an pan. Many green teas are still roasted
in wok-like pans today, but most of oolongs are "pan-roasted" in a
rotating
heated iron barrel.

Pan-roasting process has these main purposes.
1) Fixation ("Shaqing", killing the green): stop all enzymatic oxidation
activities in the tea leaves at the wanted degree (nominally 0% for
greens,
or 20-60 for oolongs).
2) Cook the leaves in order to decrease water content and make them soft
and
suitable for the subseguent "rolling process".
After pan-roasting, tea leaves must not be dry, but soft and pliable and
the
more or less time you roast is adjusted in order to abtain this result.
Being still rich in water content, in this phase tea leaves change and
improve their taste and fragrance but get little "roasty" taste.

After rolling (that in the case of TGY can be quite complicate), rolled
(and
so shaped) tea leaves undergo a first "baking" which has only the purpose
of
drying complitely them. This process might be performed using some special
"baking baskets" (beilong) made with a frame of bamboo with a metal net in
the middle and posed on hot charcoal, or, in a more modern fashoned way,
with a multi-layers hot air dryer.

All the phases above are usually performed directly by the producers
(farmer) in they own, or collective, premises. The result (fermented,
rolled
and dryed leaves) is called "mao cha", semi-processed tea. Tasting this
tea
you can apreciate very well the quality of the plants and the way all the
above processes have been carried out, but tea leaves have no "baky" or
"roasty" taste.

Mao cha is not intended for direct consumption and needs a finishing
process. This might be performed by the producer (in the case of middle or
big scale producers) or more often by a whole-sale dealer who collect
mao-cha from many different small producers (a widespread practise in Anxi
area).

Finishng process includes the phases of removal of stems, sieving, final
baking.

Final baking is tipically performed in baking-baskets. It is a very
delicate
and important phase, the one that brings tea leaves to the wanted final
"roast degree". As Ripon has already explained, this degree which might
vary
a lot, but it is with the final baking that, varying the process timing,
an
oolong tea can become a light, medium or heavy roasted one, and not during
the pan-roasting process.

Sorry for being so verbose.
Livio


*snip*